Yet Another Lost Opportunity by Dave Goode

Yet Another Lost Opportunity by Dave Goode

For my money the best Superman feature film made was the first. SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MEN was released on November 23, 1951 and starred George Reeves as the caped crusader from Krypton and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane. This flick led to production of THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN television series. A series that holds a special place in the hearts of many a Silver Age fan boy. With the success of the television series there was some talk of a sequel to SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MAN. But it wasn't to be. Instead after the second season of the series, in which Noel Neill replaced Phyllis Coates as reporter Lois Lane there were several compilation movies made from episodes of the series with new bridging segments. Of course Noel Neill was the first live action Lois Lane appearing in Columbia's two Superman serials SUPERMAN (1948) and ATOM MAN VS. SUPERMAN (1950). Both serials starred Kirk Alyn as the Man of Steel and his alter ego mild mannered reporter Clark Kent.

The cool thing about ATOM MAN VS. SUPERMAN is that it featured Superman's arch enemy from the comic books, Lex Luthor portrayed by character actor Lyle Talbot. Sadly Talbot never got a chance to reprise the role on the television series. More's the pity. But the truth is the television show's half hour format was too limiting for a villain of Luthor's magnitude. And I'm sure no one wanted to see Luthor just appearing as someone working for a crime boss. But what if that sequel to SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MEN had been made. Might not criminal scientist Lex Luthor have been Superman's antagonist in such a movie? Just last week I had a dream in which I was watching such a flick with Luthor performing experiments on gorillas. Increasing their strength a hundred fold and outfitting them with mind control helmets to do his bidding. Insert your own story line to fit your tastes.

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